My loved one has died; what shall I do first? 

It is never something that you are going to want to think about happening to you; however, we all have to face the fact that at some point, we are going to lose someone close to us.  

When a much-loved family member passes away, we have to deal with the grief of them dying and the arrangements that need to be made at this time.  

Whilst we may not be able to help you with your loss, buttalking to a Kent accountant for probate services, may help relieve some stress. They can help with the process you will need to follow to make proper arrangements for them.  

Of course, there is no real “one size fits all” approach to this side of things, as every situation is different. However, there are a few starting points that can really help you to get everything in order.  

Register the death 

In England and Wales, you have to register the death of someone within five days of their passing. You can speak to the hospice or hospital they died in if you need to know how to do this. Or, if you want to read up on it online, then the government website has plenty of resources to help you to learn more about what you need to do.  

Advise the Government 

Every single one of us has documents from the Government that are official and linked to only us. This includes passports, driving licences and even benefits claims. When you die, all of these things are going to need to be cancelled.  

The good news is that the Government has made a “tell us once service” that is designed to ensure that all these key aspects of someone’s life are included in a straightforward message rather than lots of different phone calls having to be made.  

Start to organise a funeral 

Once the death has been registered, then you will be able to start thinking about the funeral plans. There are many different things that you can do during a funeral, and the more you want to include then, the more you can expect it to cost you. 

Funeral costs need to be paid by the people organising and as It is normally going to take some time to arrange for any money from the estate being released. This means that you are going to need to make sure that you have enough money to pay out for all the funeral arrangements that you think the person would have liked to have in place.  

Nothing can bring back the person that you have lost. However, you can make sure that things are as easy as possible for you at what will be a tough time.  

If you face a loved one and you are not entirely sure what to do next, get in touch with a Kent tax advisors, they can help with all of the things left behind after a bereavement.